'CLEAN' CARS ALLOWED IN HOV LANES NEW LAW TAKES EFFECT JULY 1.

Byline: Steve Carney Staff Writer

Starting this summer, gridlocked motorists will look with envy at solo drivers cruising by in the car-pool lane. But those solo drivers are the ones who will be green.

On July 1, a new law will allow motorists in nonpolluting, alternative-fuel vehicles to use the car-pool lanes - even if they're alone. The idea is to promote use of the ecology-friendly cars and to reward their drivers.

``A little perk, huh?'' said Karina D'Arcy of Woodland Hills, who traded her Lincoln for a battery-powered General Motors EV1 in December. ``I thought it should be done. When I first got the car, I saw people whizzing by in the diamond lane. I was thinking, because of the fuel efficiency, I should be in that lane myself.''

California's urban air quality is the worst in the nation, with 80 percent of residents living in areas that fail federal or state ambient air-quality standards. And after decades of having the most-polluted air in the country, Los Angeles only last year dropped to second, behind Houston, for the dubious title.

So state officials hope the new law will encourage the use of alternative-fuel vehicles, thus helping meet a goal of the car-pool lanes, to reduce the number of polluting cars on the road.

But don't expect the diamond lanes to fill with teardrop-shaped EV1s and other sleek, futuristic conveyances or odd-looking contraptions.

``Right now, there are not a lot of vehicles that can take advantage of this,'' said Jerry Martin, spokesman for the state Air Resources Board. ``We expect less than 10,000 of these vehicles in the next year, so that there will not be a huge onslaught or overload of the car-pool lanes.''

That may change soon, however.

In 2003, California will require car manufacturers to produce 10 percent of their fleets as zero-emission vehicles, he said. That will put about 100,000 more qualifying cars on the road, and into the diamond lanes.

``The reason you want to give special access to alternative vehicles is you want to have some social benefit for people who are making some sacrifice,'' said Robert Bienenfeld, manager of alternative-fuel vehicle sales and marketing for American Honda in Torrance.

For example, although the cost of electricity or natural gas is less than gasoline, the fuel can be hard to locate, and the alternative-fuel cars are more expensive than most traditional vehicles, he said.

Actor Ed Begley Jr., a proponent of alternative-fuel vehicles since he bought his first electric car in the 1970s, said he supports the law. ``When you have a huge problem with air quality, you need to do everything you can,'' he said.

But unlike the glorified golf carts that used to pass for electric cars decades ago, today's alternative-fuel vehicles won't create gridlock by puttering in the diamond lanes. GM's EV1 has a top speed of 80 mph, for example, and Honda's natural-gas powered Civic has even more horsepower than the gasoline model.

``Unless they have a souped-up Lamborghini, this car will blow the doors off them. This car's a rocket,'' Begley said, while cruising on the freeway in his EV1.

The law was sponsored by Assembly members Jim Cunneen, R-Campbell, and Bob Margett, R-Arcadia. And it even won support from foes of the high-occupancy vehicle lanes, such as Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, who voted for the bill.

``The more we can open the underused diamond lanes, the better,'' said McClintock, a longtime vocal critic of HOV lanes, which he contends create gridlock by stealing needed lanes from other traffic.

``This is a very small step,'' he said. ``It's a stunning admission that the car-pool lane is not promoting car pooling to any significant degree, so they must find new justifications for this enormous loss of capacity.''

Martin, with the Air Resources Board, said only electric and natural gas cars now qualify for the lane exemption. No gasoline-powered vehicles currently manufactured meet the standard, said Randy Wittorp, spokesman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The state is working on its list of qualifying cars and will post that on the Air Resources Board Web site as the July deadline nears. Cars will need to bear Department of Motor Vehicles stickers to indicate they're exempt.

``I'm sure there will be a few people pulled over until everyone is educated,'' said EV1 driver Chris Reeves of Burbank, a sound editor.

He said he hopes the law will encourage more drivers - even in a small way - to use nonpolluting vehicles.

``I grew up in L.A. and I have asthma,'' Reeves said, ``and I'd like my son to not have asthma.''

Though the new law may not add any car pools to the car-pool lanes, a General Motors spokeswoman said it will reward energy-conscious drivers while still serving one purpose of the diamond lanes.

``The point of an HOV lane is to reduce traffic, that's for certain. But also to reduce pollution,'' said Tiffany O'Day, marketing specialist for GM, which has leased 1,000 EV1s in California and Arizona since introducing them in 1996. ``These people are interested in reducing pollution, and they should be recognized for that.''